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Orioles nominated for several GIBBY Awards

Orioles nominated for several GIBBY Awards

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2012 GIBBY Awards 2:28

The 2012 Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards nominees are revealed

By Brittany Ghiroli
/
MLB.com |

BALTIMORE -- As the Hot Stove season continues to heat up, there is still plenty of excitement following the Orioles' successful 2012 season. While executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter have plenty of work to do to build on a 93-win campaign, which ended with a loss to the Yankees in the American League Division Series, it would be remiss not to acknowledge the milestones and individual performances that shaped this past season.

This year's Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards will do just that, with the Orioles nominated in 10 categories, including Executive of the Year and Manager of the Year, respectively, for Duquette and Showalter.

Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2012 GIBBYs trophies -- the ultimate honors of the sport's awards season -- based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.

Three Orioles are nominated for individual accolades, with Gold Glover J.J. Hardy up for Defensive Player, Chris Davis for Breakout Hitter and closer Jim Johnson for Breakout Pitcher. The team's improbable success in posting the first winning season since 1997 also has the ballclub nominated for Storyline of the Year.

This year's GIBBY Awards feature nominees in 21 categories. Individual honors will be given for top Hitter, Starting Pitcher, Setup Man, Rookie, Breakout Hitter, Breakout Pitcher, Comeback Player and Closer. Balloting also will determine the GIBBY winners for Postseason MVP, Defensive Player, Manager and Executive.

GIBBY trophies also will be awarded for the year's Top Play -- with rookie Manny Machado's pump-fake at third base the Orioles' nominee -- as well as Oddity of the Year, with Baltimore's relief pitching earning a nod. In addition to Storyline of the Year, the Orioles are also nominated for Hitting Performance, with Jim Thome passing Sammy Sosa on the all-time home run list. There will also be awards handed out for Top Pitching performance as well.

The Orioles, who won their final 16 extra-innings games, are nominated in the Walk-Off category for earning a pair of back-to-back wins and for center fielder Adam Jones' late-inning heroic homers. There will also be awards given out for best Cut4 topic and Postseason Moment, from MLB.com's Must C highlight reels.

In the past four years, you the fans have cast more than 40 million votes across the various GIBBYs categories, none of which were restricted to individual league affiliation.

Fans can vote as many times as they want until balloting closes on Dec. 2, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Winners will be presented their GIBBY trophies at the MLB.com Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards extravaganza during the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 4.